Brazil police seek charges in bike path collapse

Marshall Jones - Managing Editor

FILE - In this April 21, 2016 file photo, people gather around the bodies of two people who were recovered by rescue workers after a bike lane collapsed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazilian police said Friday, June 24, 2016, they are asking prosecutors to file charges against 14 people in connection with the deaths of two men killed in the April collapse of an elevated bike path that was heralded as a top legacy project of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Image Credit: (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

June 26, 2016 - 7:00 AM

SAO PAULO - Brazilian police are asking prosecutors to file charges against 14 people in connection with the deaths of two men in the April collapse of an elevated bike path that was heralded as a top legacy project of Rio de Janeiro's Olympics.

Police said in a Friday night statement that the 14 include employees of the construction company that built the bike path and the municipal agency responsible for inspecting construction projects.

A 164-foot stretch of the oceanfront Tim Maia bike path fell on April 21 after it was apparently hit by a powerful wave.

The statement says the path was built without taking the possibility of strong waves into account and adds that "the construction company failed to anticipate that which was predictable."

OPINION At least part of me wasn’t sure I should write this, given what happened last time. It was August 15, 2003 and like many Thursdays before it, I was scratching around for a column idea. The summer newsroom